


I'm fine

by whereittakesme



Category: Pearl Jam
Genre: Angst and Feels, Band Fic, Caring, Falling In Love, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Terminal Illnesses, Worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:26:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereittakesme/pseuds/whereittakesme
Summary: This is a story about the friendship between Eddie and Stone (may turn into love later on, who knows?) and the obstacles that they have to face while being on tour and living their life.
Relationships: Stone Gossard/Eddie Vedder
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Together again

**Author's Note:**

> The story is set in 2000 after the release of "Binaural" but otherwise I haven't been thorough with my research on the correctness of dates and stuff.  
> If you don't want to read about illness and other topics that may be distressing I suggest that you just ignore this fic. Apart from that I can say that there won't be any violence.. at least I haven't planned it until now.
> 
> Oh and English isn't my first language so bear with me.
> 
> Feedback and kudos are highly appreciated of course :)

Stone

The summer of 2000 was finally coming to an end as the band gathered again for their first collective rehearsal on their upcoming European tour after the release of “Binaural”. Even though it was almost autumn the sun was burning down merciless in Chicago leaving them sweating and exhausted. The first one to arrive at the rehearsing place, that was a small house a little outside of town, was Stone. Because Eddie usually was the keeper of the keys, Stone sat down on the porch to avoid the sun and waited for his other band mates to show up. It has been a long time without seeing them altogether, even though he had been in regular contact with Jeff, Mike and Matt. Solely Eddie had sealed himself off from everyone to wander in his own headspace as he had always done, so Stone wasn't too worried that he hadn't heard from him in the last two and a half months. While Stone was thinking about his friend, he heard a squeaking sound coming from the distance and he lifted his head from staring down at his feet.  
Eddie was approaching on his bike, that looked like it was slowly falling apart. Stone chuckled to himself. Of course Eddie still didn't get a new one. He had rarely been able to separate himself from his old belongings. Eddie waved at him and gave him a dimpled grin. “Hey there.” he said and leant his bike against the porch's railing. “Hey yourself!” Stone answered with a smile. His smile though quickly turned into a more concerned look when Eddie was coming up the stairs towards him. His friend looked a lot thinner than Stone remembered him from two months ago. Even though his skin had gotten quite a tan because of the surfing he had probably done the past weeks, he had dark shadows under his eyes and his face seemed to be much slimmer. “Are you alright? You don't look so hot.” Stone asked while arching his eyebrows. Eddie shot him an annoyed look. “I haven't been sleeping so well.. that's it. I'm fine.” he lowered his gaze again and fumbled out the keys for the front door. “Well, whatever you say. How's your time off been? You never called me.” Stone said and he didn't even try to hide the reproachful tone in his voice. Eddie smirked at him a little priggish. “Aww Stoney, I think you missed me.” and he turned from the now open door to face Stone again and spread out his arms. “Come give me a hug.” “You're such an idiot.” Stone muttered but regardless he stepped over and gave the smaller man a hug. That was when he started to worry again, because he could feel Eddie's bones through the thin fabric of his shirt that was hanging quite losely around his body. Nevertheless Stone didn't feel like approaching the topic of Eddie's well being again so he stepped out of the hug and made his way through the door. “Ah look, the others are coming!” he heard Eddie yell from behind him. 

The first two hours were spent without picking up any instruments but talking, laughing and providing updates for everyone concerning new music but also private stuff. Finally it was Eddie to interrupt the conversation: “Time to make some music, guys. Otherwise I'm gonna be too tired to get anything done.” he yawned and pushed himself up from the sofa that he has been sharing with Jeff and Mike. The others exchanged some surprised looks, because it was quite unsusual for Eddie to shut down a meaningful and engaging discussion. Mike was the next one to stand up and he shrugged: “Who am I to complain about playing music? Come on guys.” and he followed Eddie who already had made his way into the rehearsing studio. After spending so many weeks apart, they all needed some time to find their place within the music again, but after a little warm up, it seemed like they had never stopped. Another three hours went by and it was getting dark outside. Even though the sun was leaving, the air didn't cool off much and the air condition in the room wasn't the best so the band decided that it had been enough rehearsing for the day. Mike, Jeff and Matt were the first to leave as they all arrived in Mike's car, because they were living close by each other. “Well, that was fun. I really missed playing with you all, man.” Jeff patted Stone and Eddie on the shoulder. “So we're gonna meet tomorrow again then?” “Yeah, we will. I missed you, too.” Eddie gave Jeff, Mike and Matt a short hug while smiling. “I'm gonna turn off the lights and amps and stuff. See you tommorrow then.” he waved at them and disappeared into the house again. “Bye, Ed.” Matt watched Eddie's figure step around the corner and turned to Stone. “What's going on with him? He doesn't look so good, right?” Stone felt relieved that he wasn't the only one to notice and he shook his head. “I don't really know. I tried to talk to him before you guys arrived, because he's gotten so skinny, but he just waved it off.” “Yeah, that sounds a lot like him.” Jeff's voice showed a lot of concern that Stone could understand very well. He was fucking worried himself. “Well, I will look after him very closely for the next weeks, alright? But maybe it'll be better for you to just treat him as normal as possible. I don't want him to shut down completely.” Stone didn't want his friends to burdain themselves too much so he thought it was best to take care of Eddie himself. Maybe it wasn't anything serious and they were worrying for no reason at all. “Sounds alright. I also don't want him to be overwhelmed with concern.” Jeff nodded in aggreement as well as Mike and Matt. “So see you later guys. I'm gonna head inside,too and double check everything.” Stone waved them goodbye and entered the house again. He found Eddie in a sitting position on the couch in an almost completely dark room as the lights were already turned off. He slowly made his way over when he recognized the deep and a little ragged breathing sounds. Eddie seemed to be asleep because there was no movement from him when Stone quietly sat down beside him. He wasn't quite sure wether to wake him or just let him sleep, but he didn't like the thought of Eddie being out here on his own so he decided to carefully wake him up. Stone wasn't sure where the impulse came from but he suddenly felt the very strong need to take care of his friend, who obviously wasn't feeling so well at the moment.  
He lifted his hand to Eddie's face and pushed some of his dark curls out of his closed eyes. “Hey, Ed. You wanna sleep here, buddy?” he carefully patted the smaller man's cheek when Eddie's eyes started to flutter. “Stone? I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to fall asleep, I just wanted to sit down for a moment, because I was a little dizzy.” he mumbled with his eyes still closed. “Why are you still here?” Eddie's voice was not more than a whisper but he finally opened one eye to look up at Stone who was bent down above him. “I was worried about you so I came back to look for you. Are you sick, Ed?” Stone was afraid of the answer but he really needed to know the truth. “Not that I know of, no. I'm just having trouble sleeping at the moment.” Eddie had closed his eye again and now rested his head against Stone's shoulder. “You also lost a lot of weight, Ed. Aren't you eating enough?” Stone didn't want to interrogate his friend but this issue was nothing to be taken with levity. “I don't know actually. I don't have much of an appetite lately..” Eddie shrugged and sighed. “Are you done questioning me?” he lifted his head from Stone's shoulder and ran a hand through his thick curly hair. “Yes, for now.” Stone answered not completely satisfied and Eddie chuckled quietly. “Don't be so grumpy now.” he got up but swayed dangerously and Stone was there immediately to prevent him from slumping down. “Woah, careful Ed. I got you.” he felt his friend leaning against him for support and just waited for Eddie to regain some of his strength. “Sorry, I must've gotten up too quickly. I'm good now, you can let go of me.” Eddie pushed against the taller man's chest lightly to assure him that he was alright. Stone took a step back but he was still ready to catch him. Luckily the singer had regained the strength to keep himself upright on his own. When Eddie slowly started to walk towards the door, Stone followed him. “Hand me the keys, I'll lock it.” Eddie didn't complain and held out the keys for him while he kept on walking. Stone took them out of his hand and when they exited he closed the door and turned the key. Meanwhile Eddie had sat down again burying his head in his hands. He felt Stone's gaze on him and quickly looked up to meet his eyes that were filled with a lot of worry. “I think I still need to rest a little before I drive home.” he lowered his head again. Stone let out a disbelieving laughter. “You're in no fucking state to be driving home on your bike, Ed.” Stone could feel himself getting angry. Eddie was such a stubborn idiot. “I'll get you home. I can fit your bike in my trunk. Come own.” Stone bowed down and grabbed the young man's shoulders. “I don't need your fucking help.” Eddie's deep voice was filled with frustration and Stone immediately felt sorry for him. He probably had no idea what or if something was wrong with him, but Stone needed him to be okay for the night. “Eddie I don't want to baby you, alright? I just don't want you to end up in the gutter tonight. You're gonna feel better tomorrow, just get some rest now and let me drive you home.” he pleaded to his friend's sanity. “I'm sorry, you're right. I just feel fucking exhausted. Thanks Stoney.” Eddie got himself upright more slowly this time and made his way down the stairs where Stone had parked his pickup. The drive home was quiet, but neither of them felt the need to talk. After ten minutes, Stone recognized that Eddie had fallen asleep again. “He just needs rest and sleep”, he reassured himself. “It might just be a phase, everyone feels a little off now and then.” When he arrived at Eddie's house he stopped the car and turned off the engine. “Are we there?” Eddie's drowsy voice ended the silence and Stone turned to his right to face the smaller man whose body was slumped against the car door. “Yeah, Ed. Can you make it inside yourself or do I need to carry you?” Stone tried to lighten the mood a little. “That's quite an inviting offer, Gossard, but I don't want you to hurt your back.” Eddie winked at him and pushed the car door open. “Have a good night.” He was almost out of the car when he turned at Stone again and quickly put his hand on the other man's. “Thanks.” he mumbled and left the car. Stone watched as Eddie walked up to his house and turned on the engine again. He drove off to the sound of a closing door. At home, he went to bed right after having a little dinner, but he couldn't stop worrying about his friend. After almost three hours of racing thoughts he finally managed to fall asleep.

To be continued..


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this is so short, there'll be more to come soon

Eddie

After he had closed the door behind himself, Eddie let out a sigh. He dropped his stuff in the hallway and slowly walked over into his living room. He dropped onto the couch and closed his eyes. He was so fucking tired. Even though he didn't do much today except for riding his bike to the rehearsing place and singing some songs. What the hell was going on with him? He knew something was wrong, but he was afraid to get to know the reality, because then he wouldn't be able to push it aside any longer. Of course he had been sick before but it had never been like this. It was this ongoing feeling of exhaustion, tiredness and sometimes he felt like he couldn't breathe and if something was pressing down onto his chest. Eddie was still resting on the couch when he heard the phone ring. Thankfully he didn't have to hurry because it was just beside him. Eddie didn't bother to look at the number, he just picked up. “Yeah?” “Ed? It's me.” Stone said on the other end of the line. “You again.” Eddie chuckled quietly. “Yes, it's me again. Listen, I just wanted to check on you. You really seemed a little out of it earlier.” “Yeah, I'm sorry. Like I said.. I'm not sleeping very well at the moment. That's why I'm a little exhausted and tired. It's nothing you have to worry about. I'm fine, alright?” Eddie tried to sound convincing. “Mhh.. I hope that's it. Did you have dinner yet?” “Actually, no.. but I was gonna make me some.” Eddie tried to remember the last time he ate something, but nothing came to his mind. “Alright.. well sleep tight later on. I'll see ya tomorrow, right?” “Sure, ten o'clock, I'll be there.” Eddie hung up the phone and leaned back into the couch again. Maybe he really should get something to eat. His stomach was rumbling, but nevertheless he didn't feel like having dinner. Instead he decided to walk out onto his porch to have a cigarette and a beer. Four or five cigarettes later Eddie felt the exhaustion wash over him once again and he stepped back into the house. Even though he was extremely tired he managed to brush his teeth and take off his clothes before sinking into the soft matress. Luckily he fell asleep straight away, which had almost never happened in the last weeks. 

Stone (3 weeks later)

Today was the first day of the European tour and the band was about to play in Milan in Italy. They had been driving for almost five hours now after getting off the plane at 6 am. Even though they had covered most of the journey already, there were still three more hours to go and Stone was fucking tired. Well, all of them were. Jeff was quietly playing his bass, Mike and Matt were talking and Eddie was just resting on his bus bunk, back against the wall and eyes closed. He still didn't look any better, rather worse Stone thought. It seemed like he had lost even more weight, he didn't fill out his black shirt at all, but as long as he didn't mention it, Stone wouldn't bother him again. He was still looking at Eddie's face when his friend opened his eyes and blinked back at him. “What the fuck Stone? Are you watching me sleep?” Eddie chuckled, voice rough. “Sure, sleeping beauty.” Stone got up and walked over to Eddie's bunk. He dropped down beside him with a sigh. “We still got like three more hours stuck in this thing.” “Are you kidding? I thought I killed some time while sleeping..” Eddie shot Stone an annoyed look and ran a hand over his face while yawning. “Well you did sleep for almost six hours, Ed.” “Yeah, luckily I feel a little recovered now.” Eddie got up and made his way to the small fridge. “Do you want a beer, too?” Stone nodded in agreement.  
They spend the next hours on Eddie's bunk, sipping a few beers and occasionally talking about some random stuff. When they finally arrived at the hotel they would stay in for the night, it was almost 4 pm and everyone was whacked from the long drive. They got off the bus and took care of their luggage. Everyone had a single hotel room, so they said goodbye to each other and disappeared to rest a couple of hours before the show. When Stone entered his room, he put his luggage aside and dropped down on his king sized bed after tossing his shoes onto the floor. He closed his eyes and tried to relax a little, but soon he recognized that he failed at that quite miserably. He just couldn't get his mind off Eddie and how much worse he had looked today. He needed to speak with him again and at this point he didn't even care about the possibility of annoying him. He definitely couldn't just watch him deal with it on his own without knowing what was going on. He cared for this man, maybe more than he wanted to admit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapters are quite short, but I think I'll keep it like this so I can update more often.

Eddie

After making his way upstairs to his room, Eddie closed the door behind himself and leaned back against it while panting a little. Normally it took a lot more for him to be out of breath than just a stairway, but at the moment everything was different. He knew that he needed to see a doctor as soon as possible, but to be honest, Eddie was afraid of the outcome. So for the last few months he had tried to push his worries aside, but he felt that his health was declining more and more. First it had only been fatigue, exhaustion and lack of appetite, but now it had developed to shortage of breath and chest pains. Eddie wasn't stupid, he knew that chest pains were nothing to joke about. He carefully rubbed his hand over the left side of his chest right above his heart and tried to ease the pain a little. Luckily his breath had slowed down again and he felt able to walk over to his bed to sit down. Even though he had slept almost the whole drive through, he felt like taking a nap again, but he convinced himself to take a shower instead. Maybe this would help him to get his circulation flowing. Eddie stood up, kicked off his boots and walked over to his bathroom after grabbing some fresh boxers and a white shirt from his suitcase. When he entered the bathroom he was met with his own reflection that was reflected by a large mirror on the wall. He stepped a little closer and looked at himself. He instantly remembered why he had avoided mirrors for the last weeks. There was no denying that he had gotten much thinner. He had always been slim, but apart from that he had taken care of his body including working out and building muscle. Having said that, there wasn't much muscle left, not to mention any fat. Eddie walked even closer and took a look at his face. He pushed back the curly strands of his hair and sighed. His cheekbones had gotten even more prominent than they had been before and he had grayish circles under his eyes. He looked exactly like he felt: Exhausted as fuck. Nevertheless Eddie gave his reflection a short smile and took off his clothes before stepping into the shower. He turned on the water and regulated it until it was almost ice cold. Eddie was freezing his butt off but at the same time he felt a little boost of energy rushing through him. After shampooing and rinsing out his hair he got out of the shower again and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. Stupidly the sudden change of temperature when he had turned off the cold water made him very dizzy and he reached off target. Eddie's brain wasn't fast enough to think about preventing him from slipping on the wet floor and crashing down. “Fuck!” he managed to shout before he ended up on the floor with his head first. Primarily he only felt a flash of sharp pain on his right temple, but then he also noticed the blood that was dripping onto the floor. “Shit.” he cursed again to himself. Eddie carefully pushed himself up on his hands and scooted over to the mirror. There was a cut right above his eyebrow and the blood was flowing quite steadily. Eddie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. That was exactly what he needed now. He slowly stood up while trying not to bleed onto the floor and grabbed the towel that he had wanted to take before falling down. He pressed it onto his temple and moaned quietly when he felt pain shoot through him again. “This is definitely going to leave a bruise and a scar” he thought. Eddie sat down on the toilet lid and leaned back while still pressing the towel down onto the cut. About fifteen minutes later the bleeding finally had slowed down a little and Eddie managed to put his clothes on without getting any blood on them. When he was dressed, he decided to call Stone, because he was the only one who was always carrying a medical kit around. He dialed the reception number and asked the nice lady that was answering the phone to connect him to his friend Stone Gossard. It took an awful long time, but then the guitarist finally answered the phone. “Hello, who's that?” his voice sounded drowsy and a little rough. “It's Ed. Stoney, I'm sorry to wake you, but I had, um, kind of a little accident. Could you come over and bring your dressing material? I forgot to bring something myself..” Eddie chuckled quietly. “What the fuck? Are you okay though, Eddie?” Stone seemed to be wide awake all of a sudden. “Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I just need to take care of it. You coming?” Eddie tried to sound as casual as possible. “I'm on my way. It's room 234 right?” “Thanks, man. Yeah, it is.” Eddie hung up the phone and walked over to his door while still pressing the towel that was once white and now stained with red against his forehead. After he had opened the door a crack, he returned to his bed and laid down on his back to wait for his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Stone

After Eddie had called, Stone almost jumped out of bed. He threw on his clothes and searched through his luggage for his med kit. Quickly he grabbed it and stormed out of the door. He knew he was probably overreacting, but when it was related to Eddie, he couldn't stay calm. Two minutes later he reached Eddie's room, panting, because he had ran up the stairs, and opened the door, that was left ajar. Eddie was lying on his bed, a towel pressed to his head and with his eyes closed. Stone hurried over and bowed down beside him. “Hey, Ed. What happened, are you alright?” Eddie opened his eyes and smiled up at him. “There you are. Yes I'm okay I think. I slipped in the shower and .. “ he drew in a sharp breath before continuing. “.. I hit my head on the floor. I don't think it's that bad.. it just won't stop bleeding.. “ “Alright, let me see.” Stone placed his hand on Eddie's and carefully lifted it off the towel before removing the towel, too. There was still a little blood oozing out of the wound that looked like it was quite deep. “Ed, I think you might need stitches. Otherwise it won't stop bleeding.” Eddie shot Stone an annoyed look. “I don't have time to sit in the ER for ages. The concert is in about four hours.” Stone shook his head in disbelief. “Don't be an idiot, Ed. There's no way you're gonna play the show like this, okay?” Eddie gave him an annoyed look. “Whatever.. let's hurry then.” Luckily the ER wasn't as crowded as they had expected so Eddie was examined pretty quickly. The doctor was convinced that the cut wouldn't stop bleeding without being stitched up so that's what he did. Stone recognized the discomofort Eddie was in when his friend furrowed his brow and took a sharp inhale after the needle had pierced his skin. Apart from that Eddie kept quiet during the process but Stone could sense his relief when it was finally done. “Alright, that's it.” the doc said and put a white bandaid on Eddie's temple. “Thanks.” he mumbled and stood up quickly. “I think you should rest a little for the next two days. Even though you don't have a concussion, you took quite a hit.” the doc warned. They left the room after shaking the docs hand and thanking him again. 

Back at the hotel, Stone accompanied Eddie to his room and they both sat down on his bed. “I don't even wanna talk to you about it, but you do remember what the doctor said, right?” Stone raised an eyebrow while looking at his friend. “Come on, really? I won't cancel a show because I'm too dumb to take a shower.” “You don't look so good, Ed.” Stone couldn't prevent himself from sounding worried again. “Stone, I haven't looked good in a long time.” Eddie laughed while giving him a pat on the shoulder. “That's the point. Don't you wanna know what's wrong with you?” Stone couldn't understand how someone could care so less about himself. “I don't know.. I think it could be bad. I'm scared, you know?” Eddie didn't look at him but at the floor and his voice was no more than a whisper. “You said it's just sleeplessness and exhaustion. Maybe you have iron deficiency or something like that. You should just check your body values.” Eddie sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Stone, it's not just that. I didn't tell you because I don't want you to worry. I'm really short of breath lately and I get these chest pains.. I'm afraid there may be something wrong with my heart, Stone.” “What the fuck, Eddie! I swear I'm gonna drag you to the hospital myself. You can't be serious.” Stone was furious but at the same time he felt like he couldn't breathe because he was so scared. “I'm gonna go tomorrow, I promise. Just don't tell the others, alright? It could still be nothing..” Eddie tried to sound hopeful, but Stone could see that he didn't believe his own words. “I'll come with you.” Stone looked into Eddie's blue eyes and tried a reassuring smile. “I'm sure, it's nothing.” He didn't want to cry, but his smile slipped from his face and he could feel a tear forming in his eye. “Sorry, Ed.” he turned away and wiped his face with his sleeve when he felt Eddie's arm wrap around him. “Come here, Stoney.” Eddie's deep voice was very near when he pulled Stone into a hug. “I'm gonna be fine.” he said again while he held him. They sat like that for almost two minutes, but then it got a little awkward and Stone broke the hug. It sure had felt good to be held by Eddie, but they never had done something like that before and Stone was a little overburdened by his friend's straightforwardness.  
“I'm gonna let you rest now.. you still have two hours until the show. Get some sleep, alright?” Stone got up from the bed and started to walk towards the door. “I'll try. Promise.” Eddie yawned and smiled at him, dimples and all. Stone smiled back and closed the door behind him.

Eddie

After Stone had left the room, Eddie let himself fall back into his sheets. He really needed to get some sleep, if he wanted to make it through the show tonight, he thought. Besides his chest had started to ache again. It felt like something was pressing down on him and he couldn't breathe regularely. That was when some kind of panic was setting in. Eddie closed his eyes and tried to slow down his breathing. Hyperventilating definitely wasn't an option right now. After some steady and slow breaths, Eddie finally felt his pulse slow down again. He kept lying where he was, trying to breathe the pain away. He was still extremely exhausted from the long drive and his fall so luckily he drifted into a twitchy sleep. After what seemed like five minutes, he was woken up again by the ring of his telephone. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. The ringing didn't stop so he crawled over to his nightstand and picked up the phone. “Hey there, Ed. I just wanted to make sure you're ready to go.” It was Jeff. “Uhm, yeah, are you guys downstairs already?” Eddie's voice was still rough from sleep and he still didn't feel any better. “Yep, I'm calling from the reception. The driver's gonna be there in five. You comin'?” “Yes, I'll be right there.” Eddie hung up the phone and crept out of the bed. When he was standing upright he suddenly felt a wave of diziness wash over him and he grabbed the wall for support. When he could see clearly again, he walked over to his suitcase and reached for a bottle of water. His white shirt was all creased from sleeping in it but he didn't bother to put on a new one. He quickly stepped into the bathroom to put on some deodorant and smeared some aftershave onto his neck. His hair was a mess anyway, there was no chance of taming it so he just took some water and pushed it out of his eyes. He left his room and made his way to the elevator. There was no way he was gonna use the stairway again, even if it was on the way down. When the elevator door opened he saw his band mates standing by the front portal and he walked over to them. “Hey, guys.” Eddie was met with confusion. “What the hell happened to you?” Mike pointed at his head. “Oh that.. I, uh, had an accident in the bathroom. I slipped.” Eddie let out a small chuckle to show them that he was doing alright. “I drove him to the ER two hours ago and he got stitched up. Anyway the doc told him to take it easy for two days.” Stone told the band. “Yeah, well I won't do any climbing today alright?” Eddie grinned at him. “Come on guys, we're gonna be late.” Eddie was the first to leave the hotel and get into the bus that was waiting for them outside. Mike shrugged and also stepped outside, followed by his band mates. During the drive to the venue, Eddie tried his best to lighten up the mood, because his band members seemed to worry quite a bit about his well being. Eddie knew that he couldn't hide his declining health status much longer, but today was definitely not the right time to tell them all. At least Stone already knew what was going on, so he tried to soothe the others a little, when they asked Eddie if he was okay. When the arrived at the venue, they had a little less than two hours until the opening of the gates, so they hurried to do the soundcheck. It only took about half an hour, but Eddie felt like he was running a marathon. By the end of it he was gasping for air and holding his chest, which had started to hurt again. He felt Stone's eyes on him and quickly straightened up a little: “I'm fine, Stoney, alright?” he raised his eyebrow to emphasize his statement and turned to the rest of the band: “I'm gonna lie low for the next hour.. somebody has to wake me if I fall asleep.” he knew he would be the number one topic of conversation as soon as he was gone but he left without looking back anyway. He was just too tired and hurting to worry about that at the moment. Soon enough he would have do deal with that anyway.


End file.
